1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ad sign for a shopping cart child seat and, in particular, to an ad sign that allows a child safety strap to be provided with the shopping cart child seat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Supermarkets and department stores, for example, often provide shopping carts for the convenience of shoppers. These carts typically include a basket for holding items and a child seat that allows a child to sit in the cart. For example, referring to FIG. 1A there is shown a shopping cart child seat 100a of the prior art. Child seat 100a includes a seat bottom 102 and a seat back 104. The seat back in particular may be formed from a plurality of horizontal and vertical metal bars/rails 106, for example, that are interconnected to form a plurality of slots and openings 108. Referring to FIG. 1B, there is shown another example child seat 100b of the prior art. Here, the seat back is formed from molded plastic, for example, creating a plurality of vertical and horizontal plastic segments 110, for example, with slots and openings 108 there-between. One skilled in the art will recognize that numerous other styles and types of shopping cart child seats exist.
For safety reasons, shopping cart child seats typically include a “safety strap” for securing a child to the seat. For example, referring to FIG. 2A there is shown safety strap 200a of the prior art. Safety strap 200a includes segments of webbing 202, for example, with a detachable buckle 204 there-between. Webbing 202 may have a width 207 of about 1 to 2 inches, for example, although any suitable width that comfortably and securely restrains a child may be used. The strap may also include an adjuster 205 so that the length of the strap can be adjusted. At each end of strap 200a is a fastener 206, such as an interlocking loop (as shown in FIG. 2A) or a hook, although other suitable fasteners may be used. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, safety strap 200a may be connected to seat back 104 of a child seat, like child seat 100a, by attaching fasteners 206 to metal bars 106 at different points such that buckle 204 resides in the front of the child seat. Similarly, safety strap 200a may be connected to the seat back of child seat 100b, for example, by connecting fasteners 206 to different plastic segments 110. Notably, fasteners 206 of strap 200a may be of a form such that once connected to the seat back, the fasteners are permanently attached, for example. Alternatively, fasteners 206 may be of a detachable form such that the fasteners can be attached to and removed from the seat back, for example.
Referring to FIG. 2C, there is illustrated another example shopping cart child seat of the prior art. Here, two safety straps 200a are attached to seat back 104 in order to hold two children. Referring to FIG. 2D there is illustrated a variation of strap 200a. Here, the safety strap includes an additional strap segment 209 that connects between the child's legs to seat bottom 102. In another example variation of strap 200a, the strap does not include a buckle 204, for example. Here, one of the fasteners 206, for example, is of a detachable form, allowing the fastener to be attached to and removed from seat back 104 in order to insert and remove a child from the child seat.
Referring to FIG. 2E there is illustrated another example safety strap 200b of the prior art. Strap 200b is a continuous loop of webbing 202, for example, with a detachable buckle 204 connecting opposing ends. Strap 200b may also include an adjuster 205 for varying the length of the strap. As illustrated in FIG. 2F, safety strap 200b may be connected to seat back 104 of a child seat by interleaving webbing 202 through one or more slots/openings 108 and possibly around one or more bars 106 such that webbing 202 extends across seat back 104 and buckle 204 resides in the front of the child seat, for example. Alternatively, the strap may be reversed such that buckle 204 is behind the seat back and webbing 202 extends across the front of the seat back and around the child, for example. In general, one skilled in the art will recognize that safety straps 200a and 200b are merely example safety straps and other forms of safety straps exist. One skilled in the art will also recognize that other suitable ways for attaching safety straps to child seats exist, in addition to those described above.
Significantly, whether a given safety strap is connected by fasteners to the seat back of a child seat, is interleaved through openings and/or around bars of the seat back, or is attached by some other suitable mechanism, the attachment points or interleaved points of the safety strap to the seat back must be selected to ensure that once a child is placed in the child seat, the safety strap securely holds the child to the seat. In particular, child occupancy standards are defined for shopping cart child seats. In general, according to these standards, a safety strap is attached at points to a child seat and is used to secure a test dummy, cylinder, or other device, for example, to the seat. Specified tests are thereafter performed to determine, for example, if the selected attachment points of the safety strap to the child seat meet occupancy retention performance requirements. These tests may include pull tests whereby a dummy, for example, is secured with the safety strap and then pulled with 40 lbs of force. According to this test, the dummy should not be able to be pulled free from the child seat. Various other test methods may also be required to ensure occupancy retention performance requirements are met. Hereinafter, the attachment points or interleaved points at which a safety strap connects to a child seat such that the safety strap meets occupancy retention performance requirements will be referred to as “suitable attachment points” or “designated attachment points”.
Notably, there are numerous different types of shopping carts each with a different style of child seat. For example, FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2F each shows a different style child seat. Each of these child seats has suitable/designated attachment points for a given safety strap, which attachment points and safety strap have been tested according to the above described standards to ensure the occupancy retention performance requirements are met and that a child cannot easily slip free of the safety strap and fall from the shopping cart.
In general, the suitable/designated attachment points of a given child seat for a given safety strap are selected to be suitably spaced. While there is no specific spacing requirement, it is generally necessary that the attachment points be placed close together in a range of 0 to 12 inches, for example. In addition, the attachment points are generally selected to ensure the fasteners or interleaved webbing, for example, of the strap do not slide along the seat back to various positions. In general such sliding of a safety strap may allow a child to slip free of the belt. For example, referring to child seats 100a and 100b of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the safety strap is preferably connected at attachment points 112a/b and 114a/b. In particular, with respect to child seat 100a for example, fasteners 206 of safety strap 200a, for example, are preferably attached to horizontal bar 106b at attachment points 112a and 112b. At these locations, horizontal bar 106b prevents the fasteners from making large vertical movements and vertical bars 106a prevent the fasteners from making large horizontal movements. Conversely, if fasteners 206 were connected to attachment points 116a/b, for example, the fasteners would freely slide vertically along vertical bars 106c, possibly allowing a child to slip free of the belt.
Ad signs for shopping carts are also well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,841 to Hensel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,175 to Larsen, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,482 to Sawyer et al. each discloses an example ad sign for connection to a shopping cart. Ad signs may display store directory information, such as which isle various goods may be found, or may display advertisements. Ad signs typically include a mechanism for attaching the sign to the shopping cart and may also include a mechanism that allows for interchangeable ads, for example.
As described in each of the above patents for example, ad signs are often connected directly to the front face of the seat back of the shopping cart child seat so that an operator of the shopping cart can directly view the ad sign while pushing the cart. However, the connection of ad signs to shopping cart seat backs often conflicts with safety straps. Specifically, as described above, each type of child seat has designated/suitable attachment points for a safety strap. However, as illustrated in FIG. 3 for example, which shows example child seat 100a with an example ad sign 302 connected to seat back 104, ad signs often conceal the designated/suitable safety strap attachment points, such as points 112a and 112b. As a result of this conflict, the safety strap either is removed from the child seat or is never attached to the child seat. Alternatively, the safety strap is often connected to unsuitable attachment points, such as points 116a and 116b, that do not adequately secure a child because the safety strap can horizontally or vertically slide, for example.